Collar conditioning?

[Esoxmn]

At what age do you collar condition a pup? I have never used one. the only experiece i've had with one was a old one, a true shock collar, I said i would never use one. With the new tecnolgy i am thinking of geting one for long distance work.

[fishnhooks]

Here we go,

I got my pup at 4 1/2 months old. I didn't start the collar until he was about 6 1/2 months old. The reason for that was because he had the basics pretty well down then. My opinion is that don't start it until he/she understands the basics. My opinion of them is that the dog should understand at least the basics and the collar is is just a sort of called safety reinforcement. As I am well aware there are several different opinions on this and it depends on the dog. If Labs4Me gives advice on this, I would certainly take it. Personally, I would not count on the collar alone, but make sure your dog has an understanding of what you want before. I am still training my dog to be better and thanks to Labs4Me and others the both of us are getting better. As I said there as many different opinions and ways of training, but I feel that the way my dogs is, and the way that I trained him ( It might be the way he trained me) he won't run in front of a car to try to get that bird. I have a collar that will just beep for a warning and not shock and 99.9% of the time that is all it takes. I know that there are several dogs that don't need the collar, but with just having that extra insurance is nice to have, instead of having to replace that loved one.( my opinion) I wish you luck.

"hooks"

[HawgMan]

Don't use a collar unles the dog/pup knows the command you wish to inforce, PERIOD!

I've seen many a dog owner use the *collar* think'n that it's the quick training method.

By far means,it's not....

Believe it's TIME,TIME,TIME,W/yur dog/pup in the field is what's it gonna take.

And also remember,every pup is different,so read'm out and please be patient!

It's all worth it in the end!!

I've got a 8 month old Britt I'm deal'n w/ myself.It's not my first,but each pup has there own click.And yes,I'm using a collar on her,but she already knows all the commands,and does'm flawlessly w/ a treat,but my gamebag would be weighted down w/ treats!! LOL I bought the Dogtra collar w/ the "page" mode,and I've tick'd the pup 1 time,and that's all it took.Now all I have to do is hit the page button(vibration) and she's right on.

I hope you well,keep us posted.

[LABS4ME]

fishinhooks... thanks for the kind words! But as both of the replies have stated it comes down to making sure the dog has a firm grasp of the command you are working on before you introduce the collar for that particular command. The collar is only used to re-inforce that command especially from a distance (after proper conditioning), not to intially teach commands or to discipline. Get your self a good book on proper conditioning and read it to fully familiarize yourself with the proper techniques and scenarios to using it. Try tri-tronics Retriever Training by Jim and Phyllis Dobbs. These are awesome tools when used in the right hands.

Good Luck!

Ken